Truckee Tahoe Aerial Tramway?

[Gopher]

Hey Guys,

Would be kinda interesting.....I did a quick write up on the idea on www.unofficialsquaw.com and it's thankfully pasted in below:

An aerial tramway in Tahoe, huh? A tram that goes from Truckee to Tahoe City with branches that reach out to Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley. It actually sounds pretty cool. Jeff Sparksworth is considering it a reality. Essentially you'd drive your car to Truckee, park it and jump on the tram. Color coded 6-8 person gondolas would take you and your baggage to your specific destination. The idea of the project would be to eliminate the use of cars on highway 89 along with the traffic and congestion they create. The gondolas would move at 20mph taking you from Truckee to Squaw in 18 minutes and Truckee to Tahoe City in 42 minutes. "I know we’re all in an awful hurry these days and at the extremes these times may seem slow. However, when you factor in bad traffic days, the hassles of parking, and the delays caused by traffic accidents or weather, these times are reasonable." (TahoeTram.com) Hell, it also just sounds like a fun ride.

Advantages of the Tram system:

No traffic, more environmentally sound then automobiles, cool factor - attractive to tourists and maybe olympics, user cost will be cheap compared to rising automobile user costs and skyrocketing oil prices, minimal snow removal vs. road, and you'll be able to read, work, use the internet (all gondolas will have cell phone coverage & wi-fi) or just hang out vs. driving.

Disadvantages of the Tram system:

Basically the tricky part is getting the resources to build the tramway. The estimated cost of the tram would be around $500 million, which is a pretty chunk of change.

This is a very interesting idea that truly does deserve some serious consideration. TahoeTram.com has much more information including: costs & revenue projections, comparisons to existing tram systems, tram station details, routes & service areas, benefits of the aerial system, and system capacites.

"If the system could remove 5000 cars for five years, this would be a carbon value of $1,374,000 and an emissions reduction of 55,879,000 lbs." (from TahoeTram.com)

[LightRanger]

Interesting idea.

Would really lend itself to the Olympic pipedream.

The line up to Norden probably wouldn't ever happen. The line out to Northstar maybe not either. Both for various land-use reasons. Maybe though.

The rest of it though...

Definitely interesting. It'd have to be pretty comprehensive though in terms of stations in order for people to use it though. Can't half-ass it.

[mday]

If we're discussing fantasy transportation systems, why not go straight to the USS Enterprise teleporter?

[Imz]

could be dope, but I can't imagine how many NIMBYs would pee their pants over a long term project like this...

[m01766]

[Gopher]

Monorail...Monorail....Mono!

Yeah, I suppose it should have included the aesthetic side of things. It's possible that the thing could be a hideous eyesore.

[skier666]

A bullet train to Squaw from downtown SF would be much cooler....

[nickwm21]

A big public transportation project is what the area needs. For jobs and more... If there was decent public transpo in the Truckee Tahoe area, I would use it daily.

I think a tram might be the wrong idea, but I cannot think of a better idea. Any monorail, maglev, train idea would be more expensive and more impacting. TART has proved to us that bus lines don't work up here.

It is fairly open too... Routing it right along 89 would work, but routing it a mile or two west of 89 would bring in great vistas of Tinkers and the crest, as well as drop you right in Alpine and Squaw. There is not a whole bunch of private land over there, other than the TTSD and White Wolf, its all Tahoe National Forest.

Ahhhh White Wolf... I dream of the day Squaw and Alpine grow some balls, partner up, and buy White Wolf, keeping AMs open boundary policy of course.

[Lane Meyer]

A bullet train to Squaw from downtown SF would be much cooler....

Don't you mean Kirkwood?

[Gopher]

I just got off the phone with Jeff Sparksworthy, the guy with the tram idea.

He actually mentioned a monorail and that is/was an option for our area but with a cost of about 20 million/mile. The tram way is in the ballpark of $7-10 million/mile.

Sparksworth's next step is to start a non-profit organization and begin conducting 3 studies. An Economic, an Environmental Impact, and an Engineering study. These studies will be Sparksworthy's path to validating that his proposed project is viable and will be able to pay for itself once operational.

He informed me that TRPA, the county board of supervisors, as well as the head of Cal Trans all acknowledge that there is a need for alternative transportation in our area in the future and that this aerial tramway is a possible option.

If everything went as well as it could, he estimates that there could potentially be ground breaking in 3-5 years and the project could potentially be complete as early as 2021.

[Dog Pound]

A bullet train to Squaw from downtown SF would be much cooler....

Most of the track is already in place, for at least light rail... could be really sweet!!

[nickwm21]

Most of the track is already in place, for at least light rail... could be really sweet!!

Amtrak doesn't use that rail, the train station in Truckee is now purely a bus stop. I don't know the reasoning, but I would wager that if amtrak doesn't use it there is no way a bullet train would.

[Hugh Conway]

Routing it right along 89 would work,

Yes, it would. That's where the railway that went from Truckee-Tahoe City ran for over 40 years. Course you'd have to tear up the bike trail

You can take the California Zephyr to Truckee.

[nickwm21]

He actually mentioned a monorail and that is/was an option for our area but with a cost of about 20 million/mile. The tram way is in the ballpark of $7-10 million/mile.

Sparksworth's next step is to start a non-profit organization and begin conducting 3 studies. An Economic, an Environmental Impact, and an Engineering study. These studies will be Sparksworthy's path to validating that his proposed project is viable and will be able to pay for itself once operational.

I expect those three studies to show promise!

We already know its cheaper.

We could assume it would impact the environment less, being able to span valleys and such.

Engineering wise, it might be more difficult to design but building a few towers and stringing cable is less work than building piers, bridges, and rail all the way through.

[ride the biscuit]

Don't you mean Kirkwood?

See, this highlights the main problem with doing something like this in the Tahoe area: people's origins and destinations in the area are too varying. On any given day, most of the people at the resorts didn't come from Truckee, and the are mountains spread out across the region.

If there was only one big resort in the area and people either drove in from the bay area or reno, there would definitely be the need for some sort of public transport option at least from RNO.

Also, visitors that come from the bay area aren't going to drive 3.5 hrs only to load up into a tram to avoid driving the last few miles.

Lastly, to get something like this to work, Alpine and Squaw would likely have to pony up a decent portion of the costs to build it, and we all know that ain't happening.

I think it would be awesome to have something like this, but the underlying market conditions/factors just aren't there, unfortunately.

[mday]

The thing is, this doesn't even solve the last few miles. How are you going to get an SUV load of people and equipment from the tram stop up to the cabin the are staying in? Taxis? Just how many would you need for the Friday night rush?

There are very few resorts in Tahoe where the housing density works with this, and where you could put a stop within schlepping distance of accommodations. Might be great for the Squaw village, the condos at Alpine, and Northstar, but most of the rest of the basin is just too decentralized.

I'm still predicting the Star Trek transporter becoming reality before this.

[Hugh Conway]

The thing is, this doesn't even solve the last few miles. How are you going to get an SUV load of people and equipment from the tram stop up to the cabin the are staying in? Taxis? Just how many would you need for the Friday night rush?

ah yes, the classic American problem with public transporation, OMFG I won't be able to fill the Suburban up with crap for a weekend trip! I might have to change my life a little bit.

Train + Bus + taxis + walking

[The Dad]

I dream of the day Squaw and Alpine grow some balls, partner up, and buy White Wolf, keeping AMs open boundary policy of course.

Likewise.

FWIW, at ISSW, Squaw pro patrol suggested that they are preparing to open boundaries. Probably not this season, though.

[/drift]

[jfost]

how about a subway system??? Truckee-TahoeCity line, AM/Squaw/N* line, maybe add SugarBowl & Homewood?

It'd be just like The Tube!!! Mind the Gap and the Gaper Gap at the same time... brilliant!

[jfost]

ah yes, the classic American problem with public transporation, OMFG I won't be able to fill the Suburban up with crap for a weekend trip! I might have to change my life a little bit.

Train + Bus + taxis + walking

ahh yes, the classic European problem of not realizing that Americans don't have 36 vacation days per year and as such cannot waste 2 days simply getting to their ultimate destination.

Hallo! Taking the train from Munich to Salzburg, then overnighting there, having a wine&cheese fest, then taking another train to Kitzbuehl, having another wine&cheese fest, then maybe going skiing! We will be gone for 7 weeks with the whole family!

[powdork]

Train + Bus + taxis + walking

that's not the issue here, since there is no train. If this made it so people didn't need to bring their car, it would help. but with the current infrastructure you would drive from the bay area to truckee, leave your car, hop on the tram, and then get dropped off to catch a taxi or walk. The taxi uses every bit as much gas as the car you left 20 miles behind, plus it has to drive useless miles en route to pick you up. The taxi still causes traffic problems too. As part of a comprehensive plan, it could be a valuable piece, but by itself, not so much.

[Hugh Conway]

but with the current infrastructure you would drive from the bay area to truckee, leave your car, hop on the tram, and then get dropped off to catch a taxi or walk.

Huh? Shift some of the slightly-less-time sensitive freight on the UP lines to the Feather River route and route more passenger trains on the Donner Pass lines. Heck have the trains stop at Soda Springs again

ahh yes, the classic European problem of not realizing that Americans don't have 36 vacation days per year and as such cannot waste 2 days simply getting to their ultimate destination.

Give Amtrak some priority on their rail routes so they aren't fucked over everytime and you'd fine that the time from Oakland to Truckee could be about the same on the train on a weekend.

[unofficialandes]

A bullet train to Squaw from downtown SF would be much cooler....

Full agree on this! Great point...

[splat]

Jet boat ferries up and down the truckee would eliminate the need for any of that cumbersome infrastructure stuff.

[skier666]

Some days I could drive to Kirkwood. Then, some days take a cab in my ski boots to the train station, take a nap, and arrive at Squaw....